Four B.C. New Democrat MPs considering move to provincial politics

Nathan Cullen
Riding: Skeena-Bulkley Valley
Caucus role: House leader
First elected: 2004
Born: July 13, 1972 Toronto
Profession/occupation before politics: human resources consultant
Potential strengths as B.C. NDP leader: Young outsider, proven winner in rural B.C., personable and media-savvy, innovative, no baggage from bitter internal NDP feuds, centrist, network from 2011-12 leadership campaign.
Weaknesses: Few links with powerful Indo-Canadian and labour constituencies in party, seen as “green” when some party members want a pro-job “hard hat.”
View of caucus colleague and former Simon Fraser University political scientist Kennedy Stewart: “If Nathan decides to run, it would be a huge loss to us at the federal level, as he is one of our most talented MPs. However, I think he would take the provincial leadership race to a different level, bringing much-needed excitement and energy to a group of people who have not had much to cheer about over the past few months.
“He is charismatic and young, but also very experienced. He has joined with powerful First Nations and environmental leaders to lead the charge against the Northern Gateway pipeline and finished a strong third in our very competitive national leadership race. To me this means he has the potential to grow the party beyond our 40 per cent. (But), at this point, Nathan would be considered an outsider when compared to other potential leadership hopefuls such as Mike Farnworth and John Horgan. So he’ll need to work very hard to convince party members that he is the person for this job. He’ll have to show a mastery of provincial issues and a unique vision for B.C. However, the same holds true for other MPs who might be considering a leadership run such as Jinny Sims, Peter Julian, or Fin Donnelly.”

Photograph by: Adrian Wyld
, THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA — The B.C. NDP, shell-shocked by the May election debacle and leader Adrian Dix’s intention to resign got a welcome dose of enthusiasm Tuesday when four federal MPs from B.C. said they’ll consider bids to lead the provincial party.

They include Nathan Cullen, the federal NDP House leader who ran a surprising third in the 2012 federal NDP leadership vote won by Tom Mulcair, and Jinny Sims, the firebrand former B.C. Teachers’ Federation leader.

Peter Julian and Fin Donnelly have also expressed interest in a job that will involve the headache of rebuilding the B.C. NDP for the 2017 election.

“It’s surprising,” said Norman Ruff, a political observer and University of Victoria professor emeritus. Ruff said the B.C. NDP is in “complete disarray” and isn’t ready for a leadership battle as it deals with the “post-traumatic” impact of a stunning campaign collapse in May.

Kennedy Stewart, a federal NDP MP and former Simon Fraser University political scientist, said all four of his caucus colleagues have strengths.

But to be successful, he said, the winner would have to sell a convincing vision to a provincial party that might be suspicious of a solution from Ottawa.

“His main advantage among party activists and public alike is his lack of any kind of baggage from B.C. politics of the 1990s.”

Sims has a considerable advantage in her links to the Indo-Canadian community and the labour movement, both crucial NDP constituencies. But Ruff said the former BCTF leader would be a “red flag” for Clark’s Liberals.

“The demonization of Dix could seem like kindergarten play compared to what would be hurled at Sims,” Ruff said. He said the NDP under her leadership could be hurt because critics of unionized teachers have “falsely” labelled them out for themselves rather than students.

“She has a fiery style but she would put Liberals in a frenzy. And she would rise to the bait.”

Former federal MP Ian Waddell, who served in the provincial NDP cabinet in the 1990s, said Ottawa-based politicians don’t always have an easy transition to Victoria.

Waddell said MLAs on both sides of the B.C. legislature would direct “he’s too Ottawa” comments his way: “It’s an uphill fight for an Ottawa person, but may be different this time as the party searches for new blood.”

Cullen told The Sun he’s talked about the leadership with Mulcair and B.C. party members who are urging him to consider a bid to replace Dix.

“I’m taking the time to seriously consider this with friends and family,” he said.

The list of potential contenders includes provincial MLAs John Horgan and Mike Farnworth, who ran unsuccessfully against Dix in 2011.

“I’ve been approached by a lot of people and I’m giving it serious consideration,” said Sims, who served as BCTF leader when Clark was premier Gordon Campbell’s education minister.

Julian, the NDP’s caucus chair and one of Mulcair’s strongest House of Commons performers, said he’s being courted by New Democrats inside and outside the provincial caucus.

He said his strengths include a strong background as a business manager, his experience as an oil refinery labourer who later worked closely with unions when he ran the Council of Canadians advocacy group, and representing what he calls the most ethnically diverse riding in Canada.

“More than 100 languages are spoken, so I’ve got a lot of those communities approaching me,” he said. “I think all of the potential candidates have some real strengths. So I think over the next few weeks we’re going to see folks having conversations, and after that we’ll see how decides to step forward.”

Donnelly, who like Cullen is closely aligned with the environment movement, confirmed his interest in a leadership bid but wouldn’t elaborate.

Dix and the NDP suffered a crushing defeat in the May election, causing some in the party to look for a fresh outsider to lead a party renewal.

A B.C. NDP leadership contest is expected sometime in the first half of 2014.

•

A move to B.C. politics would be financially costly for most MPs. Clark’s salary is $193,532, while Dix’s is $152,788.

Cullen, with his $39,800 stipend for serving as House leader, earns a total of $200,000. Julian, who gets a smaller bonus for serving as caucus chair, earns $171,500. Donnelly and Sims get the base salary of $160,200.

Federal MPs also have a more attractive pension plan than MLAs.

But Ruff said he doesn’t believe politicians make major leadership decisions based on personal finances.

Cullen said if he runs he’ll seek a mandate to renew the party’s operations – and its relationship with organized labour.

He cited research from a previous federal election indicating that union members don’t show a higher rate of support for the NDP than other demographic groups.

“We’re seen to be close allies and we get some benefits and some negatives from that, and yet we’re not getting their votes, and that doesn’t help us nor the labour movement.”

However, he didn’t spell out what form the new relationship between the provincial party and the B.C. labour movement would take.

Cullen, first elected in 2004, is a former environment critic who is closely associated with opposition to Enbridge Inc.’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline to Kitimat that runs through his riding.

Former B.C. provincial campaign director Brian Topp, in an internal analysis of the failed May election strategy, argued that the NDP tends to be hurt by giving high profile to environmental issues, since that helps draw attention to the Green party.

Topp’s analysis also discussed the damage caused to Dix’s credibility by the mid-campaign decision to oppose Kinder Morgan’s proposed expansion of its pipeline from Alberta to Burnaby.

The Toronto-born Cullen, a former small businessman who didn’t become a party member until he sought the nomination in 2004, portrayed himself during the federal leadership race as someone on the centre-right within the NDP.

He noted that he hasn’t yet taken a public position on the Kinder Morgan proposal.

Julian said he wouldn’t alter the party’s relationship with the NDP, and said he’s firmly opposed to the Kinder Morgan proposal as currently formulated because raw bitumen is destined for overseas markets rather than for local refineries.

Story Tools

Nathan Cullen
Riding: Skeena-Bulkley Valley
Caucus role: House leader
First elected: 2004
Born: July 13, 1972 Toronto
Profession/occupation before politics: human resources consultant
Potential strengths as B.C. NDP leader: Young outsider, proven winner in rural B.C., personable and media-savvy, innovative, no baggage from bitter internal NDP feuds, centrist, network from 2011-12 leadership campaign.
Weaknesses: Few links with powerful Indo-Canadian and labour constituencies in party, seen as “green” when some party members want a pro-job “hard hat.”
View of caucus colleague and former Simon Fraser University political scientist Kennedy Stewart: “If Nathan decides to run, it would be a huge loss to us at the federal level, as he is one of our most talented MPs. However, I think he would take the provincial leadership race to a different level, bringing much-needed excitement and energy to a group of people who have not had much to cheer about over the past few months.
“He is charismatic and young, but also very experienced. He has joined with powerful First Nations and environmental leaders to lead the charge against the Northern Gateway pipeline and finished a strong third in our very competitive national leadership race. To me this means he has the potential to grow the party beyond our 40 per cent. (But), at this point, Nathan would be considered an outsider when compared to other potential leadership hopefuls such as Mike Farnworth and John Horgan. So he’ll need to work very hard to convince party members that he is the person for this job. He’ll have to show a mastery of provincial issues and a unique vision for B.C. However, the same holds true for other MPs who might be considering a leadership run such as Jinny Sims, Peter Julian, or Fin Donnelly.”

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